in-dependent's Full Review: Enter The Matrix for Xbox
Enter the Matrix is the best movie based game ever made. That's not saying much, I know, but since a few decent movie based games have come out recently, it means more than it did two years ago. Does it play like a Matrix-ised Bloodrayne? Maybe, but it's the little extras that make this a worthy title.
Enter the Matrix is more than just a movie license, it's a game all of its own. With that said, you still have to be a fan of the movies to get the full effect. The game starts after The Matrix but before The Matrix: Reloaded. Somewhere in the middle it runs right along side the movie. You control Niobe or Ghost, who are really only bit players in the movie but you get to see their story unfold in the game. If you hated Reloaded, spare yourself here. I think Enter the Matrix and Reloaded will make more sense when Revolutions comes out, but until then you may have a hard time wading through the backstory of characters you don't care about. If you did like Reloaded, then the game will fill you in on a couple blank spots.
The game begins when you (Niobe or Ghost, your pick) get word of the whereabouts of the last transmission from a missing hovercraft. The transmission is on a disk in a post office box in the matrix. After an interesting trip to the post office you get back to your ship to discover that the missing crew had found millions of sentinels (you know, those real world flying bot thingies) digging towards Zion. If you've seen the movie you know where this is headed although there are quite a few more levels until the movie comes in. Most of the "story" before the movie is pretty confusing and depends of your knowledge of non-main characters. The story is a tad more solid than most movie licenses, but you are still taking on a supporting role in the grand scheme of things, which may be disappointing to some. I wasn't too sad, as I already figured I wouldn't be interacting with Neo too much, and you know Ghost isn't going to save the real world.
Basically, the gameplay is like most movie license games. There are shooting, fighting, driving, and platforming options. One nice thing about Enter the Matrix is that, for the most part, there aren't glaring gameplay differences between levels, like the developers said "Okay, we need two fighting levels, three driving levels, one platformer, and the rest will be shooters" and then just slapped that formula into the game. You have a choice between gunfire and fists at all times and the platforming always makes sense. And if you really didn't want to drive, just choose Ghost instead of Niobe. Its not as open ended as Grand Theft Auto, but you have a few choices here and there, which is nice.
While the fighting can consist of button mashing at times, if you put a little thought into your combos you can pull off some pretty cool moves. Especially in bullet time. Every single move is motion captured so that every move in the game is brought to you by the same people who brought you the moves in the movies. If that isn't sweet I don't know what is. Bullet time allows you to run on walls and jump around while shooting and kicking and disarming. Not only are the moves cool, but they look real. Every move could be pulled off by accident, but I think that the controls are so simple and common that what sometimes seems like button mashing is really your subconscious doing things for you. Maybe you don't think so, but I think it might be possible. I mean, my four year old brother could never do all the moves I can do, and isn't he just button mashing? Yeah, so I'm giving the controls more credit then they deserve, but I do love easy controls.
I shouldn't get carried away with how easy the controls are—they aren't that easy. Sure, it's easy to kick someone in the head, but there is something about that third-person perspective that takes some getting used to. Fifteen minutes of nonstop play and I was good to go, but I think movement was a bit harder than it should have been.
The driving (and flying) levels truly suck. Sure, I like this game, but there is no beefing up these levels. They are almost necessary since Niobe is credited as being the best driver ever (or some such thing), but it doesn't make it any more fun to play. Sure you get to see an awesome cut scene at the end of it, but spending 20 minutes chasing an elusive semi that you can't even see while being chased by easily defeated cops leaves a lot to be desired. Like suspense. Flying isn't much more fun. The hovercraft goes so fast that any steering is accidental.
I can't forget the Hacking part of the game, as most reviews here haven't done it justice. First of all, what seems open ended really isn't. It's a prefab game as well. While hacking you can find or enter cheats others have found, but also view weirdly totally unnecessary pictures and videos, talk to movie characters, and get found by the matrix itself. It's insanely hard to understand, until you view the "help file." Once you open a few things, you get directions on how to proceed until you "beat" the hacking portion. Hacking itself is really fun if you enjoy challenges with no real payoff. Well, there is one payoff--multiplayer fighting levels. Sounds fun? It isn't. You get a handful of levels and some main characters (and a sewing woman?) but you can't choose your character, and you don't get to fight in bullet time. I don't get the point.
Graphically the game is . . . okay. There is little wrong with the graphics (minus a few clipping problems) but there is nothing great about them either. Sure, the graphics were polished a bit for the Xbox version, but a little more polish might have made all the difference.
There are some awesome effects though. Niobe’s coat being one of them. It shines. At times you may feel like you are controlling a wet alligator and not Jada Smith, but it looks good nonetheless. And let's not forget bullet time. In bullet time bullets whiz by just like in the movie, with the little swirls of air and all.
The voice acting is good although not what you would expect from Hollywood actors. It's not as bad as what Keanu Reeves would have done, so let's count our blessings where they are. Some parts are overacted and some parts are underacted, but overall the voice acting is better than a lot of video games.
I don't particularly remember the sound effects or soundtrack. They definitely aren't anything to write home about. Pretty standard sound as far as a next-gen game goes.
As you may well know, Enter the Matrix was made at the same time as The Matrix: Reloaded and was released on the same day. I think the release may have hurt the game, as I think it was rushed. When playing through as both characters is weirdly repetitive, you think those sort of things. I still liked the game, but I liked the movie too. Fault me where you may.
quot;Unfortunately no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourselfquot; - Morpheusnbsp; Enter the Matrix is the story-within-t...More at GrabCart
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